The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is undergoing a major shift in its mining sector as record-high copper prices and government-imposed export restrictions on cobalt lead major mining companies to prioritize copper over traditional battery feedstocks.
Copper production from Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) and Mutanda Mining reached 138,400 tons in the first half of 2026, up 66% year on year, while over the same period, cobalt production from the Swiss mining and trading giant Glencore’s DRC operations fell to 8,700 tons, down 51% from 17,700 tons in the first half of 2025, according to Shanghai Metals Market.
Glencore confirmed to investors that its Congolese operations are actively prioritizing copper, citing sufficient finished cobalt inventories to meet immediate quota requirements.
Following a 2025 export embargo, Kinshasa instituted strict annual cobalt export quotas capped at 96,600 tons for both 2026 and 2027. In August, authorities further tightened rules by signing a joint ministerial decree banning exports of raw copper and cobalt concentrates to force domestic refining. As a result, Glencore expects its DRC cobalt exports to fall to 22,800 tons in 2026 and 18,800 tons in 2027.
The International Energy Agency’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026 forecasts the global cobalt supply gap will expand from 15% to over 25% by 2027, plunging the market into a structural deficit starting in 2026.
The approximately 1,000-kilometer railway connects key mining hubs like Kolwezi, Tenke, and Lubumbashi to the broader Lobito Corridor, a crucial supply route built to transport Central African copper and cobalt to global markets via Angola’s Atlantic coast.
To bolster this infrastructure, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) signed a letter of interest with Mota-Engil in December 2025, committing up to $1 billion in financial support for a 30-year concession to rebuild a key rail line in the DRC, countering China’s dominant foothold in the nation's mining infrastructure.
The US-supported railway project underscores the escalating rivalry to secure the infrastructure required for exporting Africa’s critical minerals. In response, China is pushing forward with a $1.4 billion modernization of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA), connecting Zambia’s copper belt to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam.
China’s CMOC Group operates two mega-projects in the DRC: Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) and Kisanfu (KFM). Together, these sites give CMOC a production capacity exceeding 100,000 tons of cobalt per year, making it the world's largest cobalt producer.
